Bullying: From the Preschool Classroom to Cyberspace

Ron Slaby and Kim Storey led the development of a creative new HHD project on bullying with an engaging web site, an interactive toolkit, and teleconferences with experts.  Eyes on Bullying combines information, skills-building activities, and communications technology to teach adults how to prevent and respond to bullying among youth.  In this interview, Slaby talks about the roots of bullying and the recent emergence of cyberbullying.

Is bullying a new phenomenon?
Slaby:  Bullying is certainly not new.  Children’s experiences with bullying are so important that they often remember them years later because of the pain or guilt they continue to feel about these incidents.  In fact, when I talked about bullying with my mother, who is now in her 90s, she immediately said, “Oh, yes, I remember the very first day of school…”  She entered her one-room schoolhouse and sat at the end of a bench that the youngest children shared.  Martha, a second grader, sat next to her and began to gradually edge over, pushing my mother half-way off the bench and the teacher didn’t notice.  Every day, Martha would push, push, push and my mother would have to sit on the edge the whole day, not knowing what to do.  She tried to push back, but Martha was bigger.  My mother vividly remembers this pain and humiliation 85 years later.

Where does bullying begin?
Slaby: Young children often impulsively show aggressive behaviors—sometimes yelling, grabbing a toy, or pushing.  Although these behaviors are hurtful and provide a poor example for other children watching, they are not yet bullying.  These precursor behaviors could eventually lead to bullying if they become deliberate, repeated, and power imbalanced.  In my mother’s case, Martha was deliberately pushing her off the bench every day, repeatedly.  And there was a power imbalance because Martha was older and bigger than my mother.  Even in the preschool years we see these examples of bullying begin to emerge.

Why is bullying important to address?
Slaby: If bullying is not stopped, the bully may gain power, territory, and status—while the victim may be intimidated or even traumatized.  Furthermore, the children who are watching may decide to encourage the bully to go further, participate in the ongoing bullying themselves, or begin to bully other children they feel they can victimize.  So bullying spreads if it’s not stopped.  It grows unless it’s nipped in the bud.  Its effects can be devastating for bullies, victims, and bystanders alike. 

What impact has technology had on bullying?
Slaby: Technology has many wonderful benefits.  But it has also provided new and unusual ways to bully.  “Cyberbullying” is the use of the Internet, cell phones, videos, and other communication devices to hurt others with words or images.  This form of bullying can be done instantly, in front of a huge audience, and sometimes under the protection of anonymity.  Victims of cyberbullying sometimes retaliate with violence, and victims of direct bullying sometime retaliate with cyberbullying.  The good news is that we now know a great deal about how to prevent bullying, and we are beginning to use technology effectively to help educate adults and children to become bullying preventers.

For more information, visit the website at www.eyesonbullying.org or contact eyesonbullying@edc.org.

July 2, 2008